Roll7’s upcoming skater shooter, roller dromeis the first to feature a completely original soundtrack featuring dark, retro-futuristic synth beats by the incredible Electric Dragon. We spoke with Electric Dragon artist Ian about the process of working on this project and creating this all-new album.
Jemima Tyssen Smith: Hi Ian! It was a pleasure to work with you while you created all-new incredible music. roller dromeThis has been a very exciting project for Roll7. Because this is the first time we’ve created a completely new soundtrack for just one of his in our game. What was it that drew you to this project?
Electric Dragon: You summoned me!
Haha – it’s true! Yes, I was actually the first to contact you.
Yes, that’s all. I didn’t know the full details of the game at the time, but what I saw was so interesting to me that I actually offered to do some original work at that point. We had a meeting with some people to discuss what we needed in more detail. I was stuck in a rut with the album I was working on, but when I was talking to the people at Roll7, I was really inspired. In fact, I think it all came together really well for everyone involved. I’ve always wanted to work on a game soundtrack and Rollerdrome is a great game.
I think it’s about time you talked about the possibility of an original track that felt perfect for us because we wanted that kind of specific vibe for the soundtrack.
Yeah, the energy we were looking for was a soundtrack with synthwave power, but with a distinct ’70s flavor. I didn’t want it to be too disco, so it felt like a very difficult balance to strike. There is a darkness in the game that had to be reflected in the music. In the end, it came together naturally. I basically approached the soundtrack from a futuristic 70s angle. He’s the BBC’s “Tomorrow’s World” right? I also got a lot of inspiration from 70s pioneers like Vangelis, Wendy Carlos, Philip Glass, Giorgio Moroder and Tangerine Dream.
It’s so inspiring to see all the cool kits you have – it’s all really interesting. What drew you to music and synthwave in the first place?
I had a Commodore 64 when I was a kid and my uncle bought me a software called “Utilisynth”. It was very complicated, but it produced a great wobbly sound and from there I fell in love! I continued to play guitar, DJing house music in the 90’s and being in a death metal band. There was, but eventually I went back to synths.
And we’re so glad you did! This project is clearly quite different from working on an album that doesn’t tie much to the game or concept. how did it work?
Yeah, the tracks have to match the gameplay, so we couldn’t do the breakdown the way we did with the completely free-form album. We also had to balance a dystopian narrative with thrilling gameplay. The track needed to be tough, but it also needed to be playful. I think the positive moments really help make the darker parts of the game darker. i really like it What I loved about this process, as silly as it may seem, was that the story really helped me pick the track title. I always find it a bit difficult to name tracks so it was a real relief to have the content already out there to pull off the title!
Finally, please tell us where the name “Electric Dragon” came from.
A Japanese movie from 2001. Electric Dragon 80.000 VIt’s about two rivals who get electrocuted and gain superpowers…and they also perform a seriously guitar-destroying solo.
That’s so cool! I’m adding it to my watchlist as we speak. I can’t wait for people to experience it in-game.
me neither!
Rollerdrome comes to PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 on August 16th.
